


Home is where we skate

by eviternalism



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 09:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12078285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eviternalism/pseuds/eviternalism
Summary: Victor and Yuuri train together for the first time after having moved to Saint Petersburg, testing their new home rink.





	Home is where we skate

Pausing to catch his breath, Yuuri rested against the borders of the ice rink, admiring the lines his skates left behind on the freshly-layered ice. Noting there was still an echo of a headache in his mind and that he was a bit more out of breath than usual, he tried to focus on inhaling and exhaling to relax. Even though he traveled quite frequently for the past few years, the jet-lag always found a way to catch up to him.

He had insisted on checking out his new home rink, even though Victor insisted on taking it slow and going sightseeing for the day. But Victor saw that gleam in his eyes as he spoke and understood Yuuri’s motivation to make the most of his time in order to get him that gold medal. After all, Yuuri wasn’t going anywhere, there’d be time for sight-seeing later.

The athlete felt a hand on his shoulder and a subtle warmth blanket him from behind. “Finished warming up, Yuuri?”

Yuuri nodded his head, followed by a quiet sniffle. Victor was already holding up tissue papers, knowing him so well. “Are you still feeling headaches?”

“Small ones, nothing to worry about.” Yuuri turned on his skates with ease, facing his coach. “It’ll be gone by tomorrow.”

Victor lingered, most likely looking for any signs of ailment on his face and taking note of the slight wariness in his eyes despite having rested well. Yuuri wished he didn’t worry so much, it certainly wasn’t the first time he was changing his home rink. While his coach seemed thoughtful —most likely thinking about what to train him on for the day— Yuuri leaned against the borders again, his elbow barely grazing Victor’s. He took one of the tissues and blew his nose. Upon putting the tissue box back, he noticed the skates laced up on Victor’s feet.

There was always something exciting about knowing Victor would skate with him. Even though they’ve shared the same skating rink many times, there was something about having Victor skate beside him that took his breath away every time. Although he hadn’t admitted it out loud, he preferred it when Victor trained him while skating beside him, rather than observing and directing from the sidelines. Whether it was because Yuuri learned best through example or because he liked how personal the lessons felt, he always found himself glad to discover Victor wearing skates to a practice.

After all, there’d always be a chance for Victor to perfect his form by physically correcting him, whether it was bending his arm to be rounder, placing a delicate hand on his hip so he accentuates his femininity in his poses or something as simple as using his foot to correct where his own skate should be. And when they both trained for the pair skate, the two were touching more often than not and it took Yuuri a while to stop being so hyper aware of every place where their bodies connected. But even now, it still brought a hint of colour to his cheeks.

“Tell me,” Victor leaned his head to a side, curious, “what were you thinking about just now?”

Yuuri blinked for a long second, internally berating himself for being so obvious when it came to his lingering thoughts, especially now that it was easy for Victor to read him so well. “I was thinking about our last choreography.” He spoke slowly, trying to think clearly about what he wanted to say, “We should work on the next one.”

His coach gave him a sly grin, “You want to choreograph another paired choreography with me?”

“Well, I—” Yuuri tried to get his thoughts straight again. “I meant to say my next choreography for next year’s competitions. I know there’s still some time until regionals, but it would be good to start early.”

The smile remained on Victor’s face as he spoke, “I was thinking about working on your quads and your level of difficulty in general, so we could later make a choreography that shows what you’re really capable of. But, well, as a silver medallist of the Grand Prix, you will be expected to perform at more exhibitions. I’ve been getting several calls requesting you to perform for charities and national exhibitions. So choreographing isn’t a bad idea. But we should still focus on corrections.”

The surprise was evident on Yuuri’s expression as he came to realize just how busy he’d be— even more so than Victor, who’d be making his comeback this year. He always dreamed of winning a medal at the Grand Prix, but he never really thought about what his life would be after having done it. But he pushed those looming thoughts to a side and pushed himself off from the border, sliding back into the ice where he left all those marks, keeping his eyes on Victor who looked at him with lingering curiosity.

“Let’s get started then.” He announced and watched as his coach smiled at him, hurriedly making his way to the rink opening, dumping his heavy coat to a side, revealing his training attire. He quickly removed his ice skate guarders and glided onto the ice, meeting Yuuri half-way.

For the next hour, Victor and Yuuri worked on flips and loops as well as some sit spins, nothing too high on the difficulty scale, but moves that Victor felt Yuuri could improve on. When taking a short breather, Yuuri paused to look at Victor, “What about the Ina Bauer?”

Victor took a sip from their water bottle, contemplative. “What about it? You can do it quite well.”

“Can we raise the difficulty on that one?” Yuuri asked and watched as his coach rested his chin on his hand in thought before putting the bottle to a side and sliding back onto the ice.

“Show me your Ina Bauer,” Victor instructed and watched as Yuuri slid through the ice with ease, placing his feet in the correct position and holding his arms gracefully to his sides. “Now try leaning back as far as you can.” Yuuri paused as he considered the move and tried to do as told.

While moving, he found it hard to lean back while keeping his feet so far apart, so he barely tilted his head while his shoulders began to tense as he dipped back. But then he felt Victor’s arms slide under and around his waist. “Relax your shoulders, focus on your stomach for balance.”

Yuuri tried to remain calm as he leaned farther and farther back, slightly more confident with the hold on his back. He had tried to work on the flexibility of his back with Minako before, but it had been a while since he had practiced it. But with the firm hold of Victor’s arm on his back, Yuuri was surprised to see how easily he could curve his back with only a bit of restraint from his spine. Then, as he felt his momentum dying out, his skates curved into a wide circle and he began to stand straight again, his chest close to Victor’s. They circled together until they stopped, Victor’s arms still on his waist while Victor had a hand against his chest, and the other holding his shoulder.

Slowly, Victor reached for the hand holding his shoulder and placed a careful hand around his wrist, a move so familiar to them because it was how they began their pair skate choreography. Both of them looked at where their hands met and Yuuri slowly but decidedly spun while Victor slid back but reached out for his other hand.

And just like that, they were dancing again in a choreography that spoke everything they were too afraid to say. Even though it had been a couple of weeks since they had performed it on stage, the moves came easy to them, as if the choreography had always been a part of them. However, both of them grew easily tired and found themselves once again, slowly spinning while holding each other until the momentum of their skates died out. It felt natural to do so, it felt safe.

The first one to speak up is Yuuri, “How do you come up with choreographies like this?”

Victor held Yuuri close, his mouth just inches from his ear, so he spoke softly, “At first, I let myself be guided by what would surprise everyone watching. But now, it feels like I’ve even started to surprise myself.” They parted but Victor kept a delicate hand on Yuuri’s wrist. “I think of a feeling and I try to find the best ways to portray it. Sometimes, it’s a memory. Or it’s a person. When I choreograph for you, I think of how I feel with you.”

“How…” Yuuri locked his gaze to Victor, “How do you feel right now?”

Victor’s serious and thoughtful gaze turned into a genuine smile. “Breathless.”

“Show me,” Yuuri instructed, for a change.

And even though Yuuri said those words, he was still surprised when Victor began choreographing on the spot.

The Russian skater got into position, with one hand around Yuuri’s waist and the other holding his hand. They spun and Victor did some step-work as he went. It was somewhat difficult for Yuuri to keep up, so he did a few ballet moves riddled with epaulets and a low arabesque, sliding along with his coach and competitor.

Victor crossed their arms over and spun Yuuri around, then arching him back so he performed the layback Ina Bauer they had practiced, only this time Victor leaned forward towards Yuuri and his nose grazed his chin. When they returned to their original position, Victor pushed backward and slid away from Yuuri, turning while crossing his arms before opening them boldly and daringly, with a proper daring grin matching the wild move. The skater jumped boldly and circled Yuuri while pushing back the sides of an imaginary jacket and clapping along to his steps.

The realization dawned upon Yuuri that Victor was doing some sort of Spaniard dance, evoking both the emotions of their dance in the banquet as well as their time in Barcelona. Picking up on this, Yuuri joined in with Victor and they curved along the side of the rink sideways, holding hands as Yuuri did the best he could to imitate Victor’s step sequence. They boldly stomped on the ice to accentuate Catalan beats and the rough riffs of Spanish guitars, turning and spinning around each other until they were a mess of arms, legs, and laughter. The moment lasted only about half a minute but they were already tired again and laughing a bit too much to concentrate.

They made their way off the ice, heaving through their tiredness and laughter, both of their eyes gleaming with emotion. They both put on their ice skate guards and sat on the closest bench, trying to even their breaths between sips of their water bottle.

As Yuuri tried to figure out how they wound up in such situations, Victor reached for the bits of hair that had fallen over Yuuri’s face, moving them away gently. “I’ve been meaning to ask, are you growing your hair out?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.” He said, running a hand over his tresses as if just realizing their length. “I haven’t found the time to cut it.”

Victor smiled fondly. “I like it.”

“I like it too,” Yuuri whispered, reflecting his smile.

Victor moved a few final strands out of the way before wrapping an arm around Yuuri, giving him a small pat on the side of his shoulder. “So, how do you like the rink? Does it feel like your home rink yet?”

Yuuri admired how this closeness felt normal and familiar, how safe it felt. He leaned closer to his coach, resting his head against the curve connecting his neck and shoulder. “It… it does feel like home.” He replied, meaning something more than just the rink itself. It was never just about the rink.

Victor smiled, almost knowingly, and reached for his hand. “Barcelona sounds like the perfect kind of honeymoon destination, doesn’t it?”

Yuuri visibly tensed up, always caught off guard by Victor’s out-of-place comments. Victor just laughed, amused but contemplative again. But the more Yuuri contemplated the words, the more he realized not only the importance of giving it all he has at the next Grand Prix, but also how he agreed with the statement.

So Yuuri relaxed his tense shoulders and got up. He walked over to the abandoned coat and handed it to his coach, his eyes no longer gleaming in search of a question; instead, it seemed like he found the answer. He offered a small smile. “It does. Now come on, let’s go sight-seeing.”

[The choreography I based Victor's Spaniard-inspired choreography on.](https://youtu.be/Mx75rRpKi24?t=2m1s)


End file.
